Music at the Institute – Elena Toponogova and Eleanor Penfold
Elena Toponogova (piano) and Eleanor Penfold (soprano) present a programme including pieces by Ravel, Debussy and Chopin.
Elena Toponogova is a concert pianist and chamber musician based in London. Her repertoire is primarily comprised of Russian music, with a particular focus on the works of Nikolai Medtner.
Teaming up with Norwegian violinist Elisabeth Turmo, Elena recently released a CD on Quartz dedicated to music inspired by myths and legends.
Her competition successes include the prize for the best performance of a Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach at the Nuova Coppa International Piano Competition in Italy, the 1st prize at the Nikolai Rubinstein International Competition in Paris, and she was a semi-finalist in the Gershwin International Piano Competition in New York, USA.
In 2017, Elena earned a Master of Performance degree from the Royal College of Music under the guidance of Norma Fisher. She participated in masterclasses with world-renowned pianists such as Dirk Mommertz (Faure Quartet), G. Gruzman, and I. Chukovskaya and was selected to study at the Academie de Musique Riviera in Switzerland with Pavel Gililov, supported by the Help Musicians UK Transmission Fund grant.
Elena has participated in numerous music festivals, such as the Blanc European Festival in Italy, Bloomsbury Festival, and is a regular guest at the Festival of Chichester. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in prestigious venues such as the Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, Salzburg Wiener Saal, Amaryllis Fleming Hall, V&A Museum, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, among others.
Elena is enthusiastic about advocating for music that is rarely performed. In 2017, supported by the Oleg Prokofiev Trust, she delivered a performance of Prokofiev’s Five Poems of Anna Akhmatova at Regent Hall alongside soprano Eleanor Penfold. Musical Opinion Magazine described the concert as ‘an inspiring performance.’
“Her performance was mesmerising!”
– Musical Opinion Magazine
https://www.elenatoponogova.com
Eleanor Penfold (soprano)
Praised in Opera Magazine for having ‘vocal equipment to dazzle’, Eleanor Penfold graduated from the Royal College of Music as a Ruth West Scholar. Eleanor was awarded the Schubert Song Prize at the London Song Festival by Dame Felicity Lott.
Eleanor has performed roles with Opéra Bastille in Paris (Naïade/Bergère in Rameau’s Les Fêtes d’Hébé), Opera Zuid (Elle in Jan-Peter de Graaff’s Bonsai Garden), English Touring Opera (Vénus in Rameau’s Dardanus and Soprano 2 in Bach B minor) and Waterperry Opera Festival, where she was recognised as a ‘forceful and note-perfect’ Königin der Nacht (Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte).
A Britten-Pears Young Artist and Iford New Generation Artist, Eleanor performed the role of Rossignol in an award-winning online production of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges with the London Philharmonic and VOpera.
Eleanor was awarded an honorary Associate Fellowship of Van Mildert College for contributions to the arts while returning to Durham University for their Opera Gala performing as a soloist alongside Sir Thomas Allen.
In 2019, Eleanor founded her ensemble Transposed which has performed throughout the UK. The inaugural concert tour Try Me, Good King was featured in Alternative Classical’s list of “must see” shows, celebrating iconic Shakespearean and Tudor women in stunning Tudor and Elizabethan venues.
An avid performer of contemporary repertoire, Eleanor has enjoyed creating roles for several world premieres, most recently performing the role of Girl in a UK tour of Daniel Saleeb’s new opera The Promise.
Doors open at 7pm for 7:30pm. We will serve tea, coffee and soft drinks during the interval. We do not have a licence to serve alcoholic drinks but if you are over 18 you are welcome to bring your own.
Tickets £12 full price, £10 LCA members, £5 young people (under 26 years). You can buy tickets in the LCA office or online: https://app.tickettailor.com/events/leatherheadcommunityassociation1/1838132
Getting to the Leatherhead Institute
The Institute is at the top of Leatherhead High Street, KT22 8AH, on the corner with Leret Way. Leatherhead is served by bus from Kingston and by bus and train from Guildford, Dorking and Epsom. Nearby car parks are the Swan Centre multi-storey on Leret Way (KT22 7JL) and the surface car park on Station Road (KT22 7AF). Both are free after 6pm.